Text: Acts 2:42
Let’s remember where we’ve been these last weeks. We’ve looked at this precious example that the Holy Spirit had written down for us. We’ve thought about the importance of being devoted as they were. First to the Apostle’s teaching. In short, God’s Word. How very important it is for each one of us and we as a church to be devoted to this Word that blesses us so with our Savior Jesus Christ.
We talked about the fellowship, that awesome oneness we share as God’s children with one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Let us not ignore it but live that oneness with each other.
Last Sunday we talked about the breaking of bread, the Lord’s Supper. We thought about this wonderful way that Jesus comes to us and assures us that our many sins are paid for and forgiven. He gives us the very same body and blood he offered on that cross for each of us. We talked about how it would be good to offer this special Supper more often than we do now.
Today we come to the fourth thing these folks were devoted to: Prayer…Prayer. Ever have someone ask you: How’s your prayer life? How does it make you feel? When I hear this text, they were devoted to … prayer, I’m looking at my prayer life and thinking. Hm, my prayer life is not very good. … And the devil, he’s glad to use this Word that way… Man, what kind of Christian are you? Look at your shoddy prayer life!.
Well let’s tell the devil to take a hike this morning. What kind of Christian am I? I am a sinner whose prayer life and every other part of my life falls short of what I owe my God. What kind of a Christian am I.? I am a sinner whose guilt is now covered with the perfect life and redeeming death of my Lord Jesus Christ. I am a sinner who God calls his child and gives this precious privilege called prayer.
These believers from Pentecost treasured that privilege and made good use of it. But too often I am like this. Some kind folks have given us a number of gift certificates. Some to restaurants. My son has given us three separate gift certificates to Yosemite National Park. He doesn’t give up easily on getting us there. But there they sit on the shelf. Those tickets to a great place. We still haven’t taken advantage of the opportunity. What about prayer? Are we ignoring such a great gift? So we say as we often do:
LET US PRAY
I. Pray in the freedom of the Gospel
II. Pray with the confidence of God’s promise.
III. Pray
I just came back from a district convention in Phoenix. All was well until you went outside into the 106 degree heat. But inside over the course of two days we heard a wonderful presentation by a professor from my seminary. At one point he reminded us of what Matthew reports in chapter 14 of his Gospel. A crowd had followed Jesus to a solitary place. There Jesus healed their sick and later fed more than 5000 of them by a miracle. Then we’re told that Jesus had his disciples get into a boat and go across the sea of Galilee. But Jesus stayed behind and went up on a mountainside.
A storm came up on the lake which made it very difficult for the disciples to row and make much headway. The hours go by and the disciples are being buffeted by the waves. Finally Jesus goes out on the water to rescue them. Do you remember what time that was? Somewhere between 3 – 6 in the morning.
Now I want you to think about something. What was Jesus doing all that time up on that mountainside? Matthew tells us. He went there to pray. Think about that. The Son of God from all eternity spends hours in prayer with his heavenly father. Well we might read this and think. What about me? Sometimes I don’t even spend a few minutes in prayer.
But I don’t bring this up to make you feel guilty. I bring it up for you to see your Savior. You see, Jesus saved you by doing more than suffering and dying on that cross. He did more than that to win our forgiveness for the many times we have treated God’s Word and prayer with a shrug your shoulders attitude. You see, every day of his life Jesus was saving you by being the kind of person that you and I fail to be. In your place and mine. That includes up on that mountain as a man of prayer. So that through faith in Jesus this is what we are. Forgiven. But not just forgiven. Dressed up in the perfect life of our Savior. In Christ, you are that perfect man or woman of prayer.
So let us pray. Let us pray. Not because we feel guilt or shame. Not because we’ve been prayer slugs instead of prayer warriors. No, look at Jesus who lived for us and died for us and then let us pray in the freedom of the gospel. Let us pray as forgiven, dearly loved, holy children of God who own the hope of heaven. Let us pray to our dear Father in heaven in the freedom of the Gospel.
But how should we come? I remember walking into a stateroom on my Coast Guard ship where a Captain was waiting and I was a mere Ensign. I wasn’t sure how that would go. What would that very senior officer say or do? How would he respond to my words. After all, he held my career in his hands.
What about us? In prayer, we come before the maker of heaven and earth. We come before the King of kings and Lord or lords. How should we come? What can we expect when I do? Let us pray, dear brothers and sisters. Let us pray in the confidence of God’s promise
God’s Word gives us all kinds of reasons for confidence. Think about his invitation. In Psalm 50 we hear our God say: Call upon me in the day of trouble. Then Jesus invites us and promises us in his Sermon on the Mount: Ask and you shall receive, Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. What can we know when we come to God in prayer? We’ve been invited and that invitation is sincere.
But more than sincere. I love this verse in Hebrews chapter 4. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. So my pulse may have gone up when I walked into that Captain’s office. My hands may have gotten all sweaty. But this you and I can know as we come before our God in prayer. We come before a throne of grace. That’s God’s promise.
But what about those times when I don’t have a clue. I don’t know what to pray for. I think of sitting at my mother’s bedside. The Alzheimer’s was taking its toll and stealing her away from us. I think of times when I have come to a hospital room and the end seems near. At times like those, we’re not sure what to pray for. Keep my loved one here or take him home. Paul wrote to the Romans We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. The Holy Spirit who knows our hearts takes up our cause and prays for us. So let us pray. Let us pray in the confidence of God’s promise.
They devoted themselves to prayer. Maybe your mother was that kind of person. I remember a lady who asked me every time I came to her home. Who can we pray for, pastor? They knew, they lived what we sometimes sing. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. So let us pray. And don’t pray because it’s on your to do list. Rather pray because God lets you put something on his to- do list.
Pray for yourself and your brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray by yourself as Jesus teaches us to go to a solitary place. But also come together with those who are one with you. Those in fellowship with you. Jesus teaches that so simply in the first word of the Lord’s Prayer. Think about it. We don’t say, My Father. We pray Our Father. We pray forgive us, give us, deliver us.
Pray for those spiritual blessings which have eternal significance. A stronger faith, a closer walk with Jesus, that God protect us from evil. Pray that his kingdom come to us and others. Pray for spiritual blessings but don’t feel guilty about praying for those things you need for everyday life.
And pray for those who cannot pray for themselves. I think of Stephen in the book of Acts as he was stoned to death. What did he do? He had learned from his Savior up there on the cross. Stephen prayed for those taking his life. He prayed for those who could not pray for themselves.
We can do the same. We can pray for our unbelieving neighbor or friend or family member. For without faith in Jesus, without his cross, a big thick wall of guilt stands between that person and God. So God will not hear them. But God will hear our prayers for that neighbor or friend. So let us pray for them, even those hate us.
They devoted themselves to prayer. How can we not be the same. When we experience the freedom of the gospel, when we look to Jesus and see the loving heart of our God, when we know his promise and invitation, how can we not be the same. They devoted themselves to prayer. Let us pray. Amen.